衣索比亞馬加比三書 第 10 章

Hear: if you do not believe the resurrection of the dead, consider how the souls of creatures arise, that are brought forth in the rainy season without being born of father or mother; for the spirit of God rests upon them, as it breathed of old.

And of old He commanded them by His word to die.

And they arise according to His will, when their flesh has decayed and is made better again.

And again, when the rain comes down and waters the earth, they live and move about as they were ordained at the first.

For He said: Let there be every living soul that moves upon the earth, and every living soul that the waters bring forth; for the spirit of God overshadows the face of the waters, and by His spirit and His word the spirit of life is given to them.

Behold, O you who are blind in heart, who say, The dead shall not arise: for by His spirit and His word they come to be, without mother or father. If you have knowledge and wisdom, how do you say, The dead shall not arise by the word of God their Creator?

As for you, repent and return to your faith; for by the word of God the dead shall live, who became ashes and dust in the earth.

And they shall arise by the dew of His mercy that comes from God, even as His word spoke at the first; and that word encompasses all things, and raises up the dead according as He wills.

Know that you shall arise and stand before Him; and let it not seem to you, according to your dullness of heart, that you shall remain in the grave.

It is not so. You shall arise and be requited according to the measure of what you did upon the earth, whether good or evil; for it is the day of recompense.

In the day of resurrection you shall be requited for all the sins you committed, and the book of your debt that was written from your infancy until that time shall prevail over you; and you shall have no excuse, as in the doings of this world, where you deny your sin, finding pretext in your sin.

And you make your lying word stand before you as though it were truth, and turn that lie which you have spoken into truth; but there you shall have no such pretext.

And there is no excuse there; for the spirit of God shall speak against you, since it knows all the evil works you have done, and it shall reveal them to God its Creator.

And there you shall be put to shame because of the sin you committed; therefore, before you arrive there, hasten to do repentance here, that you may not be shamed before the angels and men in the day of judgment, but be praised together with those who are praised for the beauty of their works.

And they shall receive their reward from Him who created them, without shame, together with the angels who praise God, and they shall rejoice; but if you have not done good in your life while you were in the flesh, you have no portion with the righteous.

And repentance shall come upon you where it does not profit you; for you did not prepare yourself for me while you had knowledge, buying and selling, and while you had wealth you gave not a morsel to the hungry.

And while you had a garment, you did not clothe the naked; and while you had authority, you did not deliver the oppressed.

And while you had knowledge, you did not instruct the sinner, that he might turn and repent, and that God might forgive him the sin he formerly did in ignorance; and while you had strength, you did not strive against those who fought against you, that you might be able to prevail.

And while you had vigor, you did not fast nor pray, that you might subdue the strength of your youth which is of the flesh, and bring yourself under subjection for righteousness, and not for the favoring of the flesh that is of the world;

and not for the delight of this world, in sweet foods and goodly drink, and not in fine garments, and in the adornment of gold and silver,

and in precious jewels of India, and topaz, and in emerald; and this is not what befits the adornment of a man.

But the adornment of a man is purity and wisdom and knowledge, and loving one another in purity, without envy and sickness of soul, without doubt and hatred, and while you love your neighbor as your own soul,

and while you do not requite evil to him who did you evil, that you may enter into the dwelling given to those who endure, and that He may reward you, together with them who possessed the holy ground in patience, and in knowledge and understanding, and in the hope of the kingdom of the heavens at the resurrection.

And do not say, We shall not arise after we are dead; for the Devil cuts off with this the hope of those who say and think it, that they may not be saved at the resurrection; and they shall know when it comes upon them, and shall grieve and be in anguish over the sins they did in ignorance, that they may be reckoned for evil at the resurrection, because they did not believe that they would arise on that day.

And for this cause they shall be reproached according to the measure of the evil works they did upon the earth; and they shall behold the resurrection which they denied, by which they shall arise together in the flesh.

And in that day they shall weep, because they did not make their way good; and when they weep upon the earth, it would have been better for them, if it were possible for them, not to be among those who weep there.

And if we do not weep here by our own will, they shall make us weep there against our will; and if we do not prepare repentance here, we prepare for ourselves weeping and groaning there, where it shall not profit us.

Prepare yourselves, then, to do good, that you may pass over from death into life, and from this passing earth toward that which is heavenly above, and from this which is on earth toward the light that is in the heavens.

And refuse the abundance of this world that is without measure, that there you may be fulfilled with joy that does not end, in the kingdom of the heavens, together with those who believe in the resurrection of the dead, from now until forever and ever. Amen.